Blushing Kisses
by Sailor Panda
Summary: A short and cute Valentine's Day fic as Yuki anxiously awaits his gift from Tohru.


"Where's Honda-san?"  
  
He stared down in confusion at the breakfast set out on the table before him where Shigure was calmly reading the newspaper. It was a common sight except that the portions laid out were only large enough for one person, not for the usual four. He looked to Shigure for an answer that was soon in coming.  
  
"Tohru-kun? Ah, today she had classroom duties so she left early for school. Kyou-kun went with her."  
  
"That baka neko did?" he asked suspiciously at the thought of Kyou and Tohru alone together. "Why?"  
  
"Oh, my!" Shigure sent him an amused look. "What's that I'm hearing? Jealousy?"  
  
"Shigure!"  
  
Under Yuki's glare, Shigure shrugged, giving up. "Did you forget what day it is today?"  
  
Yuki sighed as he remembered. "Valentine's Day."  
  
"Mm-hmm," Shigure agreed. "Kyou-kun said something about leaving early to avoid any would-be chocolate givers."  
  
"I see." No doubt to avoid Kagura, Yuki thought as he sank down before the table and began to eat while Shigure kept prattling on.  
  
"So Tohru-kun still gets an escort even though she left earlier than usual. But at least she managed to make breakfast for everyone. Oh," he moaned, "I don't know what I would have done if I had to miss Tohru-kun's delicious home-cooked breakfast. Although all that's left is yours since we all ate while you were sleeping until now." He shook his head. "Really, is this how a student council member should behave? Having his fellow classmates wake up so much earlier to perform their responsibilities while he sleeps in? Such a shame, such a shame."  
  
"You're the last person who should be lecturing about responsibility," Yuki snapped in irritation.  
  
"How mean!" Shigure gasped in mock hurt. When he got no reaction, he shrugged and went back to reading his newspaper. "When you're ready to leave, don't forget to pick up the bento Tohru-kun left for you in the kitchen."  
  
At those words, a sign of Tohru's constant care in such a trivial detail as making bento to take to school, Yuki's face softened. And an observant Shigure, never one to resist teasing, couldn't help but comment.  
  
"Yuki-kun," Shigure sing-songed, "got a Valentine bento from Tohru-kun-"  
  
"Be quiet!"  
  
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It was very strange.  
  
Staring at his open shoe locker, he could only wonder at the unlikely phenomenon before his very eyes. He'd prepared himself on the walk to school to be faced with the same event that had happened last year on this very day, the discovery of large quantities of Valentine chocolates addressed to him. Of course, on that day most of the chocolates had been found discarded in a trash bin nearby but it didn't change the fact that he'd received quite a lot of them. Expecting the same to happen this Valentine's Day, he was surprised that there were no chocolates waiting for him this time around, merely a sealed envelope with his name scrawled across it in a feminine hand.  
  
No doubt another love letter, Yuki thought as he sighed. It bothered him how many of them he'd received, especially since he always felt obligated to track down whoever it was that gave him one in order to give her the same speech about how he just wasn't interested in going out with anyone at the moment. Already he was trying to formulate what he'd say to this new person as he opened the envelope and began to read.  
  
"Yuki-kun," he read silently, "Please meet me behind the school after class is over. I'm sorry for the trouble. Tohru."  
  
He blinked and reread it but the message didn't change. Tohru was the one who wrote the letter? The possible implications of it raced through his mind, causing his heart to beat faster as he tried to take it all in.  
  
In a daze, he headed towards his classroom until he rounded a corner and almost ran into Tohru's friends, Hanajima and Uotani. Their backs were towards him as they faced the windows looking down upon the school grounds and, without thinking, he quickly ducked back around the corner before they noticed his presence. He felt foolish as soon as he'd done it but it was an instinctive reaction brought about by his nervousness at being in the company of Tohru's friends by himself, especially when it involved Hanajima and especially when Tohru wasn't around to act as buffer. But with his back pressed against the wall and her friends standing just a few feet away, he was feeling ashamed of the way he was hiding and resolved to stop and continue on to class when the conversation they were having caught his attention.  
  
"Naw," he heard Uotani say. "The Prince won't mind."  
  
What wouldn't he mind? Curiousity had him peering around the corner to see the two girls facing each other with Hanajima holding a few colorfully wrapped packages that he could only assume to be Valentine's Day chocolates. His attention was caught by one of the cards attached to a package since it appeared to be bearing his name.  
  
"Perhaps you're right," Hanajima said. "But I should tell him that I took his chocolates."  
  
Uotani laughed. "He didn't mind last year so I'm sure he won't mind that you took them again." She winked at her friend. "Besides, isn't it better that all he has to focus on is Tohru's note?"  
  
At those words, Yuki's interest perked up as he waited to hear what else they had to say. Being Tohru's friends, they knew her best and would have the most input into this situation. Although he knew it was wrong to eavesdrop, his desire to know was overpowering and this wasn't something he felt comfortable with just walking up to them and asking them about. So he chose to remain silent and strained his ears for the continuance of the conversation. Unfortunately, a small group of chatting students choose that moment to pass by on their way to class and he could only catch snippets of Hanajima's smiling reply that had his mind going blank in shock.  
  
".she's excited.giving.kiss.after school."  
  
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He'd been able to think of little else all day.  
  
He had mulled over the possible meaning of those few overheard snippets in his mind the entire day and had been distracted from his usual attentiveness in class. He'd avoided Tohru and having to eat lunch together because he had no idea what he would say while feeling that there was something he had to say but didn't know how. As the school day had drawn towards a close, he had grown increasingly anxious as he still couldn't figure out what he should do other than go out to meet her after class as the brief note had said to.  
  
Now, as he approached the dark-haired figure with her back to him, he found himself more nervous than he'd ever been in his entire life. Anticipation, excitement, fear, and a host of other emotions rolled through him as the inability to settle on one feeling only served to make him even more anxious.  
  
But as she turned to face him, her whole face seeming to light up upon seeing him, he felt himself calm at the warm welcome as he hadn't been able to do on his own despite his efforts throughout the entire day. He returned her smile with one of his own as he stood before her and felt something within him soften when she blushed faintly as her gaze dropped to the ground.  
  
"Honda-san, you wanted to see me?" he asked gently.  
  
"Yes." She fiddled nervously with her schoolbag. Suddenly she bowed. "I'm sorry! Hana-chan took your Valentine chocolates given by the other girls. There were a lot and Hana-chan said we should take them otherwise the note they told me to put in wouldn't fit so I let them. But Uo-chan said you wouldn't mind and that they could give them back if you really wanted them-"  
  
"I don't mind," Yuki broke into her rambling.  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Really."  
  
"Good."  
  
Silence.  
  
"Is that all you wanted to see me for?" Yuki asked.  
  
By now, he was feeling a little disappointed and also a bit edgy. Whatever he may have thought about how this meeting would go, it certainly wasn't going anything like he had expected it to. But, still, it was obvious Tohru was also uncomfortable with the way she shifted her weight anxiously from foot to foot and avoided his gaze. Although he shouldn't take any pleasure in her discomfort, it gave him hope.  
  
"No," Tohru said nervously. She peered up, meeting his eyes briefly before looking away again. "I wanted to give you something."  
  
"What?" he asked, pulse beginning to race a little.  
  
"Maybe I shouldn't." She sent him a worried look. "You may not like it."  
  
"No!" he cried, then calmed himself at her surprised look. "I mean, I'd like to see what you have to give me."  
  
"Really?" she asked doubtfully.  
  
"Yes, I really would," he answered honestly and was rewarded with her relieved smile.  
  
"Then," she said blushing, "could you please close your eyes?"  
  
Swallowing nervously, he closed his eyes, unconsciously leaning forward as he did so. He waited for what seemed like an eternity as he felt her come closer to him and then stop. He waited and waited but nothing happened. Just when he was about to give up, she spoke.  
  
"Open your eyes."  
  
He did only to come face-to-face with something shiny and red and had him drawing back in surprise. He stared in puzzlement from it to Tohru's excited features as a sinking feeling settled in his stomach.  
  
"Is this what you wanted to meet me for?"  
  
Tohru nodded. "To give you this for Valentine's Day." She smiled. "Hana- chan told me that it's a special type of chocolate made by a company called Hershey's all the way in America. She said you'd like it. It's called a Kiss!"  
  
"A kiss," Yuki repeated numbly as the overheard snippets of conversation all made sense now.  
  
"Yes," Tohru said. "Hana-chan said it's very popular in America, especially the ones wrapped in red foil for Valentine's Day." She blushed. "Hana-chan told me to tell you about a commercial she saw about it which showed that the red color comes from the Kiss blushing so hard after being kissed." She gave an embarrassed giggle. "She said you might find it interesting although I don't know why."  
  
"She did?" He was still feeling stunned at this turn of events.  
  
"Yes." Her head tilted thoughtfully as she frowned in confusion. "She said that maybe it would point you in the right direction."  
  
Yuki blinked. "Oh," he said, not knowing what else to say.  
  
The look she gave him became worried since he made no moves to take the chocolate gift. "You don't like it?" Her eyes widened in panic. "It's not too late for me to get something else! I just wanted to get Yuki-kun something for Valentine's Day to show how much I appreciate always being helped. But it's terrible if it's something that you don't like! Maybe I can exchange it or I could give you something else that you want more or-"  
  
"Honda-san!" Yuki exclaimed, interrupting. He plucked the clear box containing the red-foiled wrapped chocolate out of her hands. "It's okay. I like it. Really."  
  
Tohru shook her head vigorously. "You don't. You looked disappointed when you found out what I gave you." The expression on her face was one of misery. "Now you're just trying to be nice so my feelings aren't hurt. I'm sorry. I should have gotten you something different but I don't know what else you might like."  
  
She appeared so downcast to him that he only wanted to cheer her up for he never liked to see her sad, especially when he was the cause of such negative emotions. Even if he was disappointed that this hadn't gone as he had expected it to, that was no reason to make her feel bad as well. So he acted, not letting himself stop and think too much about what he was doing and simply did.  
  
He kissed her.  
  
It was short, brief, and sweet but it left him breathless and slightly flustered as he pulled back and stared at her, part of him not believing that he'd done what he just did. But seeing her dazed and speechless as red spread across her cheeks, he couldn't help his lips from curving upwards and felt no regret about what he had done.  
  
"No apologies are necessary," he told her softly.  
  
She said nothing, still dazed as she stared up at him with wide eyes and her features as red as the chocolate she'd given him. Smiling, he held up the boxed chocolate he had taken from her.  
  
"I'm happy that I've gotten two very special kisses this Valentine's Day."  
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From within the school building, a figure watched through one of the windows overlooking the grounds behind the school. Seeing the interaction of the two below, Hanajima smiled at how far things had come that day from the time she had convinced Tohru to leave the note in his shoe locker to his eavesdropping on her conversation with Uotani in the hallway before class.  
  
Everything had gone according to plan. 


End file.
